Sizzling in Singapore (A Carnal Cuisine Novel) by K.C. Falls, Torri D. Cooke Read Free Book Online

through the usual way we present the specials menu and have it printed for you. Later, we can bring the wait staff in for a tasting and description once the cooks have the recipes down. Unless you feel you need to walk me through, I think I can handle it from here. I'm sure there's plenty of paperwork up there in the office that I've neglected these past days. It's not my forte and I apologize in advance for whatever mess I've made of the invoices and cost analysis." She rose after her little speech with an unmistakable signal that, in her mind at least, the meeting was over.
    Nick was used to being in charge and it took him slightly aback to have 'his' meeting terminated so peremptorily. But, as she was right, and there was little else to say he simply nodded and went on his way. He wasn't thrilled about spending most of the day mired in paperwork when he would have much preferred to test and taste the new recipe concepts. But clearly that was Mae's bailiwick and he had the feeling it was best to let the waters stay calm after their rocky start.
     
    ***
     
    Mae's thoughts were running nearly along the same lines as Nick's. Here was a guy who clearly knew his way around a menu and his ideas were quite inspired. It wasn't as if she felt Kurt any less a chef, but here was a man who could take a classic and twist it just enough to make it intriguing without scaring the timid palate away from a new experience. It was going to be very difficult not to like the man. And Mae desperately did want to dislike him for the sake of her sanity. She had deliberately iced-down her demeanor at the end of their meeting.
    She noticed his slight change in body language when she rose to signal that the meeting was over. Good. I'd rather he knows now that it's best to keep his distance. It's hardly fair for him to sit like that in front of me knowing--I am pretty damn sure--that I can't stare into his crotch without thinking about...
    Mae gripped her notes as if they were going to escape. She squeezed her eyes closed then opened them to try to bring the words she had written into some sort of order. A quick phone calls to the produce purveyor made for an excellent distraction and brought her back to the tasks at hand.
    Most of the ingredients needed were on hand in the kitchen and those that weren't were easily dispatched to the Elys kitchen even before the lunch service began. She assembled the line cooks who would be handling the specials and efficiently described what tastes they were looking for and how to achieve them. Mae had a well-trained staff and there was not a great deal of explanation needed to get them cracking on tasting-dishes for her.
    If he was watching from the glassed office above the kitchen, Mae was determined to demonstrate her professionalism. She went into her 'go' mode and began briefing the various chefs who would take responsibility for executing the special. There were few words and a lot of nodding from the cooks. Everyone went their separate ways at light speed to attend to their various tasks.
    Nick was watching. She just knew he was. Mae patiently demonstrated how to make a signature sauce for the Elys's daily fish special. It was a sauce that Mae had stolen shamelessly from a former colleague and used to great effect time and again. The young Filipino saucier watched as she melted butter and added an equal measure of brown sugar and soy sauce to the mix. She whisked in about a half a cup of wasabi powder and the sauce magically came together topped with a hint of sesame oil and a kiss of grated ginger. It was a perfect foil for the black-sesame-crusted tuna grilled and served from the kitchen each day. She wordlessly followed the young cook's own rendering of her sauce. She tasted his. He tasted hers. She asked the fellow what the difference was in the two sauces. She nodded as the novice added just a touch more wasabi and a small dash of sesame oil. They tasted again. Mae patted the kid on the back and let him